Asuene buys UK's Secaro for up to ¥6B to crack Western supply-chain carbon market
What's the deal? Tokyo-based Asuene has acquired 100% of 2degreesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Ltd, the Oxford, UK company behind supply-chain carbon-tracking platform Secaro. The total consideration, including a future earnout, will reach up to ¥6 billion. Asuene plans to merge Secaro with its European arm, ASUENE EUROPE, by the end of December 2026.
What each side brings: Asuene runs the AI sustainability platform ASUENE, which it says leads Japan and Asia. Secaro, founded in 2008 and formerly known as Manufacture 2030, connects manufacturers with suppliers to collect emissions data and run decarbonisation programmes. Its network spans more than 8,000 manufacturers across 90 countries.
Why now? Disclosure rules are tightening worldwide. Europe is rolling out the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, while Japan is starting to apply standards from its Sustainability Standards Board.
Those rules push companies to measure and disclose emissions across the full supply chain. Scope 3 emissions — those from suppliers — make up most of many firms' footprint, yet gathering primary supplier data remains a challenge.
What's the endgame? Asuene gains Secaro's US and European customer base and a client list that includes Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever. The company wants to build a global base spanning Asia, Europe, and the US, and become the standard for AI sustainability platforms.
The two firms first signed a business partnership in July 2025. "Joining the Asuene Group marks the beginning of a new phase of growth for Secaro," said Secaro chief executive officer Toby Newman.
Asuene founder and chief executive officer Kohei Nishiwada said the deal lets the combined company serve customers "beyond the US and Europe" by extending supply-chain data links into Japan and Asia.
The signal: The acquisition shows a Japanese climate-tech firm expanding through cross-border M&A rather than organic growth. With disclosure mandates converging across regions, control of supplier emissions data — and the relationships behind it — is becoming a competitive asset in the sustainability software market.
Read more: PR TIMES
Image credit: Ron Cogswell
